The Uprising Brand
by SwimmingInLane3
Summary: The war has ended but people still worry about those who were close to the ones in the Dark Lord's circles. The ministry, in order to calm the people and regain their trust, came up with the Uprising Brand. This would allow them to keep track of those who posed a threat to the world. All systems have their flaws, though, and some people refuse to be controlled.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hello, lets dive right in shall we? I don't own any recognizable characters or places, they belong to JK Rowling. **

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Daily Prophet

May 3rd, 1998

It is official. The second Wizarding War is over and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been defeated. For good. The Chosen one has won the final battle and you can finally get your rest and peace. Unless of course you are a dark wizard or you work for the ministry. If that is the case then you have quite a busy few weeks ahead of you. I fear that it will be just like the end of the first war. Dark Wizards going into hiding everywhere and ministry officials pulling their hair out. Yes, it will be quite a while before any real peace had been brought.

Politicians are already wondering what they will be doing with anyone who is accused. With He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named having an even bigger army than he did the last time, it is almost impossible to tell the liars from the ones who were really under the imperious curse. I will remind you that ever since the scandal in 1467 it has been illegal for Veritaserum to be used in trial.

Everyone who was still standing on the battlefield when the dust settled is currently in custody and will be released or convicted in due time. For anyone concerned of those being held, visiting hours are still being debated. For any Dark Wizard who escaped, you will be found eventually.

Other news about the war and how everything went about will be posted in the other.

- Cassandra Patton

.: .: .:

May 7th 1998

Debates are running wild throughout the ministry. The main questions are 1) Are they going to be submited to the kiss? 2) Who will guard Azkaban? Surely they cannot trust the dementors again. 3) How will the sentencing be drawn out? Will every participant be given the same sentence, no matter how involved they were? 4) What will we do with the ones under the imperious curse? The ones claiming to be under the curse? and more...

Many of these answers are still in the air and I have been unable to get a comment from anyone who is allowed behind the closed doors. I do know that Mister Harry Potter is behind these doors and I believe that his word will have a great influence with any decision. Accused are still being held for questioning and it seems that this process is going nowhere, fast.

If the ministry can't even settle these things in due time, how are they going to rebuild themselves once it is done? Many people still don't trust the ministry and it will take a lot to bring back the confidence of the wizard population. Just what is it that the ministry will do this time around?

-Cassandra Patton

.: .: .:

May 20th, 1998

The ministry has finally came to a decision. Proclamations were announced late last night as to what will happen now that the war is over. I dare say that they managed to think of everything. Their decisions have made a believer in me about how they will run in the future.

The first Proclamation declared that anyone who is held and found guilty will serve life in Azkaban. The deadly kiss will be implemented to those in the higher circles of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is said that some may be able to buy their way out of this fate if they are to give names of people who were not captured and those names hold true.

The second stated that Azkaban will no longer be run by the dementors. The ministry claims that they will still be in Azkaban, but more wizards will be put at Azkaban to watch the prisoners and to make sure that there is no more mass breakouts as there have been in the past.

Now moving on to what I feel is the most important issue. The ministry have heard the people and their concerns about those who were under the imperious cures and those were close to the convicted. The third proclamation announced was what had been dubbed as the 'Uprising Brand'. Now not all of the bugs have been worked out, but what we have been waiting on was this Brand.

Every person, convicted or found innocent will be submitted to this Brand. Along with that, anyone in the immediate family of a branded victim will receive a brand as well. Along with that the next three generations of the youngest accused in the family will get the brand as well. The ministry states that the brands will not harm anyone, but will keep track of anyone with one. They claim that it will be a symbol that will remind the family of their mistakes and will keep the next generations from making the same.

More details about the brand will be available in the days to come once they figure everything out and test to make sure that everything works out.

-Cassandra Patton

.: .: .:

June 1st, 1998

The first accused with the Uprising Brand was released today. For his privacy his name will not be said but his number will be displayed and an explanation will follow. (posted below is a picture of a right forearm, the numbers - 0:02:03:10:00-1 glowing on the skin, the dash starting at the wrist)

The Brand is broken up into six sections for the convicted and accused and five sections for the family of them. These numbers are personal to the wizard who wears them and they are connected to their situation. It is likely that no one will have the same numbers of the Branded ones around them.

Now the most important is that anyone who is convicted or accused will have a the dash at the start of the Brand and the dash and number at the end. The first is to stick out as the first thing one would see on the brand. The second dash and number following is to claim weather the person is convicted or accused. If the number is 1, then the person is accused but not convicted. If the number is 8 then the person was convicted. The ministry claims that there will be rare cases where the number after the dash is a 7, this states that the person was convicted but has either served their time, changed sides before the war ended, or gave enough names not to be sentenced. This is the only difference between the accused and convicted from their families. Everything else is similar.

The first number to appear tells the generation that is wearing the Brand. Any of the accused will have a 0 as they are the first in the family to wear the brand and do not count as the first generation. One of the main topics with this brand is that everyone in the immediate family will also receive a brand as well. His parents, brothers, sisters, and wife will all be branded with him and they will contain the first number a 0. His children will be branded as well, but their first number will be a 1. No one but him will contain the dash unless they too were in the circles of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

The next two numbers state the amount of family members they had in the circles of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. In this case the man had two, himself and another person in his family. If we assume that the other member was his parent, then the first generation would have a two in the section, the second generation will have one, and the third will have zero.

The next two numbers claim how high the family was in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name's circles. The lowest that a person can have is a 3, the highest a 17. This number will not change based on the generations to come.

The next two numbers state the potential danger that this wizard has. This number changes through the course of the wizards life depending on his surrounding and the amount of magic that he or she has studied and mastered. The lowest number found here is 3 and the highest 17.

The last two numbers tell us how long the wizard has until they are of age. This section was made to watch those young wizards who are still going to school. It will change on the midnight of their birthday and remain at zero once they are of age.

There is more to this brand than just numbers, though. In places with large amounts of people the Brand will glow a shade of green depending on the potential danger the wizard has. The lower the number the lighter the shade. The higher the number the darker the shade. The brand also has a trace intertwined with it. It will stop anyone with the brand from leaving the country by magic and can be activated at the ministry to find where they are.

The Brands are contagious. If you are to marry someone with the Brand, you would get the Brand. If you have the Brand and have a child, they would get the Brand unless they were the fourth generation. If you were to adopt a child, they are to get the brand.

The Uprising Brand is mandatory and is being put on the rest of the convicted and accused as we speak. The ministry stated that the Brand is not to be used as discrimination but to be used as a precaution. We have no reason to fear anyone with a Brand and they should be treated as any other person. Please respect the privacy of anyone with the Brand and be aware that they pose little threat to the world.

-Cassandra Patton

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_So what did you think? This is the basic idea for right now... the real story starts in Scorpius's first year and it should be up in about a week. Keep in mind I have most things planned out, but only the first few chapters actually written. Along with that I don't have a beta, so please ignore the errors or point them out to me and I will have them fixed. (or you could become my beta *shrugs*) _


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I don't own anything that is recognizable **

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Scorpius Malfoy grasped the railing of the Hogwarts Express. Though he didn't look it, he was panicking over the fact that this would be his first year at Hogwarts. All of his life he had been protected by his mother and father, yet he still knew of the dangers that came when someone like him ventured out into the public. He looked over his shoulder once more at his parents. Their eyes were still on him and Scorpius was willing to bet that they had never left him since he left their side. This was going to be a hard year for the Malfoy family. His mother smiled at him and it was enough to get him to continue his way onto the train.

Finding and empty compartment in the middle of the train, Scorpius attempted to shove his trunk onto the top shelve. Midway through his second attempt, a pair of hands came to steady the trunk and give it the final shove it needed. Scorpius turned and grinned at the boy who helped him. He held out his hand to thank the brown haired boy in muggle clothes. It was something he had seen his father do many times to anyone who was willing to be polite to him.

The offered hand was not perceived like it was intended. His sleeve had drifted up on his arm and the tail ends of his brand was clearly visible. Scorpius saw, not for the first time, the reaction most people had when they realized that he was indeed branded. The widening of eyes, the slow backing up, the fear that the Brand brought out of people. Scorpius was left standing in the middle of the compartment, hand outstretched, knowing that this year would be even worse than what he thought.

Scorpius closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He was not going to let this affect the rest of his year. One instant did not make a life time. With that thought in mind, Scorpius opened his eyes and moved to shut the door and curtains. He wasn't in the mood to be disturbed.

He thought of bringing out his textbooks and looking over the first few chapters of something to get his mind off of things, but he knew that it would bring no relief. It was what he had been fearing since he received his letter. Now that he knew that his fears were true, it would be easier to guard himself against others. He had seen his father change in an instant to someone who gave nothing away to the world. He could do that too, and it would be something that would be perfected as the years grow on.

.: .: .:

The train pulled to a stop at the Hogsmead station, just as his mother had told him. He lost himself in the crowd of students exiting the train and headed toward the booming voice of the person calling for the first years.

Scorpius held back, waiting to be the last person to embark onto the boats. He didn't want to cause a commotion before one was needed. He thought that if he was last then there would be less of a chance that he would have to ride a full boat.

His plan worked and only two other girls joined him on the last boat. The two seemed to be lifelong friends and were fine to ignore him just as he was to ignore them. He looked across the lake to see the castle in the distance. That place would be his home for the next seven years. He only hoped that it wasn't as daunting as it looked.

The boats finally made it to the other shore and everyone scrambled out and towards the doors. Once again Scorpius lost himself in the crowd of students. He didn't mind the crowds though. They were a reminder that he wouldn't be the only person to join Hogwarts today. The crowd was full of different people, yet Scorpius was finding it hard to be optimistic about the years to come.

The group made their way into the main entrance and once the last person was through the threshold, the doors slammed shut. The light suddenly went out. People screamed. Then a voice floated above them.

"Wee little firsties... what a beautiful sight," the voice cackled. "you'll be thanking me later." Once the voice finished there was a bright flash of green light, a boy in the front of the crowd glowed green. Scorpius was only able to see the back of the boy's head before the glowing faded.

Another flash of green, a girl with accusing eyes, looking frantically for the attacker. Scorpius had seen the girl before. He remembered her clinging to the robes of her mother as she talked with Scorpius' father. It was then that he knew it wasn't just random first years that the voice was attacking. It was the Branded.

The words spoken earlier became clear in his mind and Scorpius tensed. Automatically his left hand went to clench his wrist. He hoped that he would be able to hide whatever it was that the voice was looking for. He knew it was foolish.

The voice cackled, "A small number this year." Once the voice faded another flash of green, this time a boy looking down at the floor, his hand wrapped around his wrist as well. This boy was even closer to Scorpius. He feared that he would be the next one to glow the bright green. His peers would judge and mock him before he got to do anything about it.

At that thought, Scorpius dropped the hand that was covering his wrist. He wasn't going to be a coward about it. If his peers were going to judge him because he was Branded then he was obviously above them. Isn't that what his parents had been telling him his whole life? A Brand did not make a person, and anyone who thought that was not worth his time. Clenching his fist and closing his eyes, Scorpius prepared himself for what was going to happen.

Suddenly the doors flew open with a bang. The lights turned on and Scorpius opened his eyes to see a poltergeist floating above him, bag in hand. The woman who opened the door was yelling at the poltergeist, calling it Peeves and threatening to sick the Bloody Baron on him. Scorpius sighed with relief. He wasn't going to fall under the clutches of the poltergeist.

He thought too soon. As soon as the woman stopped to catch her breath Peeves shouted, "Last rotten one!" before tipping the bag over him.

He felt a shock run through his body as a flash of green filled the room once more. He was covered in black powder, as were the others who fell under the prank that Peeves the poltergeist imagined up this year. Scorpius closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then started to swat some of the powder off of his robes. Yes, this was going to be an interesting year.

Following the rest of the students into the Great Hall, Scorpius marveled at the sight of the place. It was just as his parents described it. The ceiling matched the clear night sky, the stars and the candles mingling. Hundreds of students sat at the four tables that spread across the Hall. A hat sat in the front of the hall on top of a stool. The Headmistress stood and the hall fell to silence.

"Good evening students, and welcome or welcome back to Hogwarts. For those who don't know, I am Headmistress McGonagall. Now let's begin the sorting shall we?" She smiled and her eyes moved across the hall, seeming like she was making eye contact with all of her students. She stepped up to the stool, her dark gray robes hung around her as she looked expectantly at the hat.

"Waiting on me?" said a voice. Scorpius realized that it was the hat that had said these words. Now looking at the hat, it seemed as if the old thing was wearing a sly grin.

"One expects so much from a hat these days," the hat continued on, "Or maybe it is just me, for I'm the sorting hat you see." The grin grew even bigger on the hat and snickers ran through the room. The hat let out a laugh of his own and the Hall fell silent once more. Then to Scorpius' amazement, the hat burst out into song.

_"Hogwarts, a place of History_

_A place of Mystery  
A place for friends to unite_

_A place where enemies take flight _

_Yes, there is quite a tale_

_One you would never think be true_

_But listen to me wail _

_As I tell you about you_

_Split into four _

_diversity brings about war_

_yet it brings a better world _

_for those to behold _

_Huffelpuff you might be_

_Loyal to the end_

_For all of those to see_

_you stand by your friend_

_Ravenclaw, clever foe_

_Wise enough to know_

_judgment wrong passed _

_opportunity twice missed_

_Slytherin colors hold true_

_ambitious to the core_

_False pretence in you_

_Hiding something more_

_Gryffindor in your blood_

_courageous as a flood_

_searching for fame_

_be careful for flame_

_Many qualities hide in you_

_sit me upon your head_

_I'll sort through_

_rest in the right bed_

_Yes, Hogwarts is a place for history_

_Indeed, a place filled with mystery"_

The hat finished it's song and the Hall erupted into cheer. Scorpius watched as Headmistress McGonagall rolled her eyes at the hat before reading off the scroll of names and calling each new student up to the hat. It seemed as if everything in the hall stopped whenever someone was under the hat, only to play again in loud cheering once a house was yelled out.

"Goyle, Daniel," McGonagall called out. He would be the first Branded child sorted this year. The boy strutted confidently up to the stool. The hat didn't even make it fully on his head before "SLYTHERIN" was yelled out and a smirk filled the boys face. Once again the crowd erupted in cheering, life brought back to the hall after a moment's pause. The list went on until it was Scorpius' turn.

Again life stilled as Scorpius walked up to the stool. He could almost imagine everyone behind him wishing for him not to be in their house. Malfoys were unstable, as the rumors went, and Brands were bad luck. _The poor house that gets me_ Scorpius thought sarcastically as he sat on the stool. The hat fell over his eyes and blocked out the rest of the school. Perhaps the hat was purposely too big.

"A Malfoy eh?" the hat whispered in his ear, "Branded too. I know, I know. It isn't like your kind to put up with labels and let numbers identify you. You have got a strong mind here, would do well in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I see a bit of a Huffelpuff in the corners as well. There is a greater part of you in here, I can see it now, Scorpius Malfoy. You'll do great in..." It seemed as if the hat took a deep breath, giving it one more second to decide before it bellowed out for all the hall to hear, "SLYTHERIN!"

Life turned on again as the hat was taken from his head and the light of the hall became clear. a small smile slipped onto Scorpius' face as the cheering of his house reached his ears. Yes, he would do great in Slytherin. Already an image was forming in his mind. Surly this house was more accepting of everything, despite what everyone seemed to think. After Scorpius sat down the cycle began again as another student was called to the hat. Then another. Then another.

"Potter, Albus." The hall went silent again. Scorpius didn't bother to look at the boy as he walked up towards the hat. He looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw most of the house already smiling, hands ready to clap as soon as the hat touched the boy's head. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that the youngest Potter boy would be anywhere but Gryffindor.

Something wasn't right though. The hat remained silent on the boys head for a long while, longer than anyone else that day. The smiles on the Gryffindor table began to fade. People whispered to each other in hushed tones. What was going on? Was it not obvious to the hat that the boy belonged in Gryffindor like everyone expected? The hat jerked suddenly and everyone went silent once more.

"SLYTHERIN!" The word reverberated around the halls. Life didn't go back to cheering. The hat was taken off the boys head and he was slowly making his way towards Scorpius, but he was the only one moving. The cycle didn't start again, nobody said a word. After the boy sat next to Scorpius, another name was called out.

"Hey," Scorpius nudged the boy, giving him a small smile when the boy looked towards him. "Welcome to Slytherin, I'm Scorpius." He held out his hand, ignoring the Hall for a moment. The cycle had already been broken once, he could do it again if he so pleased.

The boy looked at him, then at his outstretched hand. After a moment he mumbled, "Albus," gave a slight nod, and turned back towards the front of the hall. Scorpius raised an eyebrow at the back of the boy's raven head. Should he have expected anything else from a Potter? Of course not, the boy was probably raised to be polite to people like him but otherwise ignore them at all cost. He turned his attention back to the sorting.

"Look at the people sitting around you," McGonagall said once the last person had been sorted and seated. "These people will be your family for the rest of your school life. You will gain some and you will lose some. The people around you will help you achieve more than you could do alone, but they can also drag you down to depths you have never seen. With that being said, I welcome all of you again to Hogwarts. Let's eat." The headmistress gave a kind smile and the plates in front of them filled with food. The hall erupted into life as people began talking to those next to them.

Scorpius dusted some of the powder off of his sleeves before he began to put some food onto his own plate. The buzz of the Hall filled him with enough to listen too. He didn't need to talk to the others sitting around him. He would just listen for now.

"Um, Scorpius?" He heard mumbled from his side. He turned and saw Albus Potter with a sheepish look on his face. "Can you, uh, pass the shepherd's pie?"

Scorpius blinked once before reaching over and passing the boy the dish. Albus put a helping on his plate and then passed the dish back. Aside from mumbling a "thanks" he said nothing else the rest of the feast. Scorpius still didn't know what to think of the boy. A Potter is Slytherin, it was unheard of until today. As he ate the rest of his meal, Scorpius mused over the boy sitting next to him.

* * *

_An: So there is the beginning, the real one. And my story has developed to something even greater than what I expected. Sadly it is something that everyone is going to hate me for and love me at the same time. No I am not just saying this to get you hooked. _

_Again, not beta so if you see a mistake report it to me and I will fix it as soon as possible. _


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or places_

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When the feast ended, Scorpius and the rest of the first years were lead to the dungeons. They were told the password from their prefect and then shown to their dormitory . Once there, they were free to unpack their trunks (which were resting at the foot of their beds) and tuck in for the night. Scorpius went to the bed that held his trunk and studied everyone who was in the room with him.

At the bed across from him stood a boy he had grown to know as the son of a man who never got over the war. Daniel Goyle was doing the same thing that Scorpius was. Leaning against one of the post, the boy already stood a few inches taller than the ones around him. He looked relaxed as he took everything in. The fringe of his dark hair almost covering the calculative look in the boys brown eyes. His arms were crossed, the easiest way to hide the faint glow that came from a Brand. This Scorpius knew from experience. Their eyes met, Goyle nodded at him, then continued with his own examination.

To the left of Goyle's bed, the sandy haired boy was already bent over his trunk and rummaging through his belongings. The room was quite enough for Scorpius to hear him mumbling things under his breath, though, he couldn't hear exactly what he was saying. Later he would find the boy's name to be Sean Splint.

The other side of Goyle's bed stood Rick Henshaw. Scorpius had grown up with the boy, as both of their moms were friends in school and the relationship continued after their graduation. Many times he had seen the boy steal a desert before dinner and if ever caught would give a face that made almost anyone let his offence slide. He was the shortest of them, his brown hair grown to his shoulders and held back with a cord.

Albus had the bed across from Henshaw, closest to the window and placed on Scorpius' right. The boy had already pulled the curtains of his four poster shut and was likely lying down and trying to cope with everything. Still Scorpius didn't know what to think of the boy and believed him to be weak for now. He wondered what exactly was it that made him Slytherin.

Goyle seemed to have finished his look around and looked pleased enough with what he had. He pushed himself off of the post and headed out the door, likely going to see what the common room held and who stocked up in his books. Henshaw followed close behind. The two of them would make quite a pair, Scorpius thought, a force to be reckoned with.

Once the two were out, Scorpius went to start unpacking his own things. He could almost hear his mother's voice nagging him about living out of a trunk. As he rummaged around and started to place things in what he would assume was their proper positions, the other boy in the room retired to his bed. Within minutes he could hear the boy snoring. Great, he would have to get used to the noise when he slept.

Just as he was about to call it a long day and go to bed as well, the curtains next to him moved. Albus Potter's face became clear and the boy was looking right at him. Scorpius stared him down. He was going to find out what it was that made this boy what he was. There was something off about him. Something that Scorpius just couldn't find out.

Albus' eyes dropped away from Scorpius' face and towards his arm. Anybody else would have said that the boy simply looked down, but Scorpius knew it wasn't the floor the boy was looking at. He had trained himself to know the difference. It helped him know which person was uncomfortable around him and which one was fine. Albus was the former.

Scorpius raised an eye brow at the boy, "What?" he snarled out, causing Albus to jump. He stood and crossed his arms, "If you don't like the fact that I'm branded then you will have to get over it soon. I'm not the only one in this house."

"Its not that..." Albus trailed off, looking to the side.

"Then what is it exactly?"

Albus fiddled with the end of his shirt and glanced at the other beds. "Its just, " his eyes slid to Scorpius again, "Does it... hurt?"

"Um," Scorpius said, caught off guard. Never before had anyone asked such a question. People had always asked to see his brand or inquired who in his family had initiated the brand. "Not usually," he said, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to tell the truth about it. "It stings a little when the numbers change, but that's about it." He shrugged, it wasn't that much of a big deal.

"I'm sorry," Albus said, looking down at his feet now. "it seems like a horrible-"

"I don't want your pity," Scorpius growled, cutting Albus off. He could take people talking down about him or being disgusted with him. There he could fool himself into believing that what they said wasn't true and that it was he who should be disgusted with them. He couldn't handle people pitying him though. The eyes that made him feel like a lost dog. Something they wanted to help, but not enough to actually do anything about it. He would rather take the glares.

"Stop saying sorry," Scorpius cut him off again, "You're a Slytherin for Merlin's sake. Try acting like one." Scorpius turned towards his bed , giving the boy his back. He really didn't know what to think of the boy now. He was getting under his skin. Scorpius took off his outer robes and threw himself onto his bed, closing the curtains tightly.

.: .: .:

Scorpius woke early the next morning. There was a layer of powder on his bed and he could feel the stuff clumped in his hair. He was glad that he was naturally an early riser. Now he didn't have to wait on anybody else to take his shower.

He had finished cleaning and was sure that none of Peves' prank was left on him when Goyle walked into the bathroom and stared at him through the mirror.

"I don't trust the Potter kid," he said, "Something's up. Keep an eye on him." With that, he left the room.

Scorpius walked into the common room to see the tail end of the other boys leaving. Only Albus was left and it seemed the others didn't feel it was appropriate to wake him up. He sighed, walked over to Albus' bed, and began to shake the boy awake. After moment, Albus' green eyes peered up at him, still hazy from his sleep.

"Get up, you're gonna miss breakfast." Scorpius stood and started to make his wait towards the door before he heard Albus tell him to wait. He turned to see that they boy was already halfway through tugging on his robes, making his way towards the bathroom.

"Thanks for waking me," he managed to make out around a toothbrush. After he finished brushing his teeth, he ran a hand through his hair and made his way towards Scorpius and the door.

"Don't you want to brush your hair?" Scorpius questioned as he followed the boy. The patch of hair sticking up in the back was bugging him.

"Nah," Albus said through a yawn, "Only makes it worse."

Scorpius could tell that the boy was still half asleep as they walked up the steps (Albus was more stumbling than walking). He wondered just how much sleep the boy had gotten the previous night. He could only imagine that it hadn't been a good sleep either.

They sat at the table and Albus began to shovel food into his mouth as Scorpius ate slowly. About halfway through the meal Albus slowed and started to push his food around. He kept looking over at Scorpius and opening his mouth before closing it and going back to pushing his food around.

"What do you want Albus?" Scorpius asked after a while. He was starting to get annoyed.

"Er," Albus looked up at him again, "Did you... want to be in Slytherin?"

He raised an eyebrow but answered the question, "Yes, Slytherin seemed to be the best place for me. They are a lot more," Scorpius paused, looking for the right word before smirking, "understanding. I can't imagine that you wanted to be in Slytherin though." He chuckled slightly, giving Albus a side glance.

"No, not really," Albus said, giving a laugh as well, " I was hoping for Gryffindor honestly."

Scorpius rolled his eyes at the comment and grabbed parchment that Professor Grigori, their head of house, handed him. It was his schedule with a notice stating that the semester would start on Monday and advising him to use the three day weekend as time to learn the way around the castle. He glanced over towards the boy sitting next to him. Albums was finally looking over his schedule, his eyes squinting as he tried to take everything in. Scorpius looked back at his own paper, knowing that his and Albus' were the same. Folding the parchment, he put it in his robe pocket and got up.

" Hey, wait up!" The boy called jumping up and running after him. Scorpius paused, wondering what exactly Albus wanted. Once the boy was beside him he set off towards the dungeons, Albus falling in step with him.  
"What are your plans for today?" Albus asked after the chatter from the great hall died away. "I was thinking about exploring the castle a bit, maybe I could nick the map from my brother." He continued before Scorpius had a chance to answer.  
Scorpius raised an eyebrow at him. The boy had so much family in the castle, why was he choosing to be around him? Not that he minded much, the thought of someone wanting to be around him that wasn't his family or other branded people was a comforting thought. Scorpius knew how this would end, though. He saw it last night, the boy was just curious, and once that went away, so would the boy.  
"Exploring the castle sound alright," Scorpius said, shrugging. Even if he knew that Albus would leave him eventually it would be alright to have someone wanting to be around him for the beginning of the school year. If anything maybe he would be able to find out why Goyle didn't trust the boy.

They stopped in the common room before heading out. Splint was there when they walked in and he politely refused Albus' offer of joining them. Once that was done they were off roaming the castle, starting with the dungeon.

In the beginning it was silent between them. Only making comments when they realized that they had gone in a circle or that there was something hidden in the shadows. They went down a hall that was only spotted because Scorpius saw the dust floating the wrong way. The hall dead ended with only a tapestry on the side depicting a goblin rebellion. As Scorpius moved to study the tapestry, Albus leaned back against the wall. After a few seconds Scorpius heard Albus shout and turned to find that the wall had given way to a new passage and Albus had fallen through it. The new passage was just a small room that closed itself off once they two were inside. They moved on once they found there was nothing else special about the room but Scorpius kept the knowledge of its existence in his mind.

After they left the dungeons, Albus became more talkative and started asking common get to know you questions. They were able to hold conversation easily, Albus asking questions, Scorpius answering, and then Albus supplying his own more elaborate answer. At the moment Scorpius was half listening to Albus discus how he wanted to try out for the quidditch team as soon as he could.

"Albus, " Scorpius said as the boy finished, "What was it that the hat said to you?" He looked up at the boy, curious to the answer. The boy had sat with the hat on his head for a long while. While he knew the question was more personal than anything they had talked about so far, Scorpius felt the need to ask it.

After a moment's pause, Albus cleared his throat. "It said that I would do good in Slytherin." His hands were pulling at the front of his robes, "That I would find better company there than with my family, a better influence..." he trailed off and paused, taking a shuddering breath and stopped walking. "I told it that it was wrong, I belonged in Gryffindor like the rest of my family. Even Rose got Gryffindor, and we all believed she would be in Ravenclaw." The boy chewed on his lips, not speaking for a moment. "My- My dad told me that I could ask the hat to put me in the house I wanted. He said that he asked to be in Gryffindor and I could to. It didn't happen that way. "

Albus started walking again and Scorpius took it as a sign that he was done talking about the subject. He walked next to the boy, pondering what it must be like to have Harry Potter be your father and have him be wrong. His own father was constantly wrong, his mother having to help out and correct if she could. Scorpius didn't know what the boy was going through.

"Wh-" Albus stopped and cleared his throat, "What did it say to you?" The boy was looking up at him expectantly now. Scorpius realized again just how personal the question was.

"It sympathized with me I guess," He shrugged his shoulders before continuing. "The hat told me that he knew it wasn't like me to be identified by a number. He also said that I would do alight in any of the houses, but Slytherin was the best for me." He gave Albus a side glance, wondering how the boy would react to his words. Surprisingly, he had a grin on his face.

"I can't imagine anyone would want to be identified by a number." Scorpius stopped and looked at the boy for a second before he started laughing. Here was Albus, telling someone who might as well be a stranger that his father wasn't perfect and he was empathizing with Scorpius. He never thought that anybody who wasn't branded would look at it that way, yet Albus was. Soon Albus joined him in laughing, though he didn't think that boy was laughing for the same reason.

Their laughter died don as they continued their way around the castle and up a flight of stairs. Midway up the steps, the stairs closed themselves off and started to move, the two boys clenching to the railings.

"Wonder where the castle wants us to go," Scorpius said, continuing to the top. The stairs leveled out to A portrait of a bored looking fat lady. Scorpius heard a gasp beside him and turned to see Albus with his eyes bright and trained on the portrait.

"Scor, that's the entrance to the Gryffindor tower." He was smiling and before Scorpius could stop him he had walked up to fat lady and asked if James was in the common room. The fat lady nodded and disappeared. Scorpius decided it would be best to stand in the background. Albus wouldn't want him around when he talked to his brother.

A moment later the portrait opened to revile a hallway and a tall Raven haired boy with brown eyes behind a pair of spectacles.

"Hey Al," the boy said, giving a slight wave and casting a quick glance towards Scorpius. "Why'd you bring him." He continued, jabbing a finger towards Scorpius. James was glaring at both of them now, obviously annoyed with both f their presences.

"Scorpius is my friend," Albus replied with ease, turning to smile once at him. "I don't see how it's a problem." Albus was still smiling up at his brother, yet James' glare had yet to fade.

"You shouldn't have brought him and," James glared at Scorpius again before leaning closer to his brother and whispering just loud enough for both first year boys to hear, "you shouldn't befriend him either."

Albus raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean James, he is in my house," Albus asked, not understanding what his brother was going about.

"He's dangerous Albus." James continued to glace up at Scorpius every now and then, speaking loud enough for him to hear the words that passed between the two Potter brothers. "He's a Malfoy and he is Branded, Albus. Surly you are smart enough to know what that means. I don't care if he is in your house, you belong in Gryffindor. We can go to McGonagall right now and get that fixed. We can explain that you took my teasing seriously and managed to talk the hat into putting you into Slytherin because of it. I won't have my little brother associating with the likes of a Slytherin."

"What are you talking about James," Albus demanded, "I belong in Slytherin. I wouldn't have been placed there if I didn't. And Scorpius is a good person. I don't care if he is branded." Scorpius smiled slightly at these words.

"Look at him Albus. He looks so pleased with himself. I bet you he planned on getting you to show him where the Gryffindor commons were. I bet he likes the fact that we are fighting. He is a Slytherin, he is manipulative and he will hurt you." James grasped his brothers elbow, turning the boy to look him in the eyes. "I don't want you hanging around him and neither would mum or dad. He is trouble. Now come with me to McGonagall's office and we can get you into Gryffindor where you belong. Rose will be glad to see you."

"No," Albus all bus shouted, yanking his arm from James' grasp. "I trust him and I belong in Slytherin. You need to accept that James. I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor for a reason."

"Listen, I'm sorry about teasing you all summer about it, but I never really thought that you would be placed there. I need to fix my mistake now before your mind becomes even more diluted. Have you heard yourself Al? Slytherin has already clogged your mind. Next thing you know you will be plotting the torture of muggleborns and getting your own Brand. No, I need to get you out of there."

"Listen to yourself, James, you sound just like the people that dad tells us not to be. They aren't that bad, just talk to one of them. Scorpius is pretty nice to me. I think me being in Slytherin might be a good thing." At that moment another boy poked his head out of the portrait hole, telling James to hurry up, before disappearing again.

James glared at his brother, his hands clenched at his sides. "Fine then, just don't come crying to me when he stabs you in the back."

"I trust him. You should give him a chance." Albus crossed his arms, presenting an unmoving front. James looked over at Scorpius, glared at him, and glared back at Albus. "I mean what I said, and I'm sorry you got stuck with Slytherin." James turned on his heel and walked back into the common room, slamming the portrait behind him.

"Let's go," Albus said, walking down the stairs they had just came from, leaving Scorpius no choice but to follow. They walked in silence down a few hallways. Scorpius could tell that Albus was still mad over everything his brother had said to him. The conversation still ran wind in his own head. He was bothered that Albus said that he trusted him after such a short time of knowing each other.

"Albus," Scorpius said, "You shouldn't give out your trust so easily."

Albus gave him a teasing glare, "Shut up, Scor." The two boys laughed at the comment, the laugher chasing off the tension. Once they were silent again Albus gave him a meaningful stare. "Just don't prove him right, okay?"

Scorpius smiled and nodded, "I'll try not to."

* * *

_AN: So that's the end of chapter 2. I'm going to speed on through years one and two within the next couple of chapters so we can get into the real plotline. There will be a lot going on in this story. It will be fun :-)Anyway now we have tension between James and Albus. It's beautiful! _

_Thank you to all who have reviewed thus far. Please stay with me and please review. It will be an interesting ride and I would love input along the way!_

_Review Responses_

_Reader-anonyms-writer  
You can bet your shiny screen that there will be discrimination! We will get into what Mr. Harry Potter thought about the brand later in the story, and don't worry about the brand hurting the soul, it is just meant to read the person and their history.  
No, parseltongue is not used and Albus does not have it. I hope that the reason Albus was sorted into Slytherin becomes apparent as the story goes on, for there is a reason more than I just want Albus and Scorpius to end up together. :-P_

_Butterflylover7143  
Yes, the two will become friends. How can they not? ;-)_

_Thank you to guest and B4wuzden for reviewing as well. _

_Next expected update is 12/15/12 (subject to change) _


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or place._

* * *

After that day Scorpius decided that he could trust Albus. The boy had stood up for him to his brother. He couldn't imagine how hard it must have been for Albus to do that, and he never asked. Over the course of the first weeks at school he watched over the boy closely. Albus was determined to have Scorpius by his side. Whenever the two caught sight of James, Scorpius would notice Albus turn away quickly. He could tell that the boy was not taking their fight well and was too stubborn to go up to James himself. He noticed the boy would smile an time he received a letter from home, which was quite often. It was a relief when he got a letter from Lily saying that she had hung up a Slytherin banner next to her Gryffindor one.

He listened to everything the boy said. Albus was good at filling up the silence. Within a month it seemed as if Scorpius already knew the other boy's life story. Many times did Scorpius remind him that he shouldn't wear his feelings on his sleeves. Albus' only reply was that he found him easy to talk to.

The days blended into weeks and soon they were learning everything a first year needed to know. Homework piled on and Albus would be dragged away by his cousin, Rose Weasley, to study more and compare notes. Whenever Albus was pulled off, Scorpius would use that time to talk to Goyle.

They two Branded boys' encounter usually included them playing chess and talks of things going on in and out of Hogwarts. Today was nothing different. As soon as Albus left the common room Goyle was standing next to him, indicating that they should go play chess in a secluded corner.

"Did you hear about the attack that happened outside of London?" Goyle asked as they sat down and started to set up their pieces.

"I would hardly call that an attack. A disturbance maybe. It was only one guy and the ministry go to him before he could cause any real harm. " Scorpius rolled his eyes and settled into his chair. "Pawn E4"

Goyle smirked back, "Pawn C5. It caused quite a scare. And it isn't the first... disturbance... that has happened. They are covering things up, but it was a Branded. I'm sure of it."

"Knight F3. I thought that you would be one of the last people to discriminate against people like us Daniel. If those with the Brand turn against each other then everything goes to hell right? We end up getting rid of ourselves."

"Knight to C6." Goyle rolled his eyes, "Scorpius, look at the bigger picture. I think someone is finally standing up and trying to get rid of this bloody thing. it was an attack on a smaller ministry building. "

"I'm not going to disagree with you, I'm just going to say that there is nothing proving you right." Scorpius said as he studied the board, "Pawn to D4."

"If you don't want to talk about how someone if finally fighting again, Pawn to D4, then perhaps you can tell me if your little friend is up to something." The pawn moved forward, taking out a sword, and sliced the white pawn before taking his place.

"Look at the bigger picture Daniel," Scorpius repeated, "Knight to D4" He watched as the black pawn fell into pieces before answering Goyle's question. "I haven't found a hidden agenda yet, but once I find one, you'll be the first I tell. Then you can go about your 'I told ya so' rant."

Goyle rolled his eyes at him and the two focused on the games for a few moves. They attacked the other players pieces mercilessly, devising strategies and watching as they sacrificed or slaughtered pieces.

"I still don't trust Potter. I don't think I ever could trust a person who's father was responsible for causing a group of people so much pain. Someone who caused this 'protective' discrimination." Goyle said as he destroyed one of Scorpius' rooks.

"Doesn't that make you just as bad as him then?" Scorpius asked, sending his bishop to attack the black rook in retaliation.

"You act like I care. What good does it do to be the better person if I am still in pain because of it? Just keep an eye on him better than you do your chess pieces. Queen to H2, Check Mate." Scorpius sighed in defeat as the back queen beheaded his king.

* * *

A few days later the first year Slytherins were in Charms with Ravenclaws. Scorpius had been doing well in the subject as was Albus. This day was different, though. Professor Sanders, a towering sandy haired wizard, decided it would be best to start the inter house relationships. They were to pair up with someone not from their house and help each other with the softening spell.

Albus gave Scorpius an apologetic smile as he got up and stared to talking to a boy in Ravenclaw. Scorpius looked around the room, wondering just who would be brave enough to be his partner. Goyle had already pared up with the other Branded in their year who was sorted into Ravenclaw, Aaron Motley. He continued to look around and saw that people were shying away from him.

"Alright, we will make this quick and easy," Scorpius turned and saw a short girl glaring up at him. "I'm Krystal Clare. It's a funny name I know." She flung a strand of her long black hair out of her eyes. "Call me Kris or Clare. I'll be your partner because the rest of my house is a pansy. Took them a week to even talk to Motley." She rolled her eyes and flung her hair out of her face again.

Scorpius rose an eyebrow at the girl, trying to figure out what was with her. She had her hand placed firmly against her hips and was still glaring up at him with her piercing blue eyes. Her hair seemed to have a mind of its own as it started to creep back into her face. "Well?" she demanded of him, standing on her toes.

"Scorpius Malfoy." He cleared his throat and held out his hand in a typical 'ladies first' fashion. The girl merely rolled her eyes at him and turned to face the book. She took out her wand, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Swishing her wand in the proper motions, she said the charm, and opened her eyes to look at the book. It remained unchanged.

"Maybe if you opened your eyes you would get a better result," Scorpius smirked at the girl.

"Maybe if you opened our eyes," she mimicked back, turning to face him. "If its so easy, why don't you try?" Her hands were on her hips once more, her eyes challenging him to do better than her.

"Fine, I will." With that, Scorpius took at him wand and with a simple flick managed to get the book softer than what it was before. At that moment, Professor Sanders came to check on them.

"Not as soft as a pillow," the professor said, picking up Scorpius' book , "But the spongiest one here by far. Good work." Scorpius turned to smirk at his partner. In return she made a sound of exasperation and stomped her foot.

"Are you sure you're not a Gryffindor?" He chuckled at her, leaning back against one of the desks.

"Shut it Malfoy." Glaring at him once more, Kris turned on her heel to face another book and held out her wand. This time she focused her eyes on the book, unblinking, as she cast the spell. As soon at the spell was cast she ran up to the book and threw it at Scorpius, hitting him in the face with the pillow soft book.

Albus found the two talking comfortable at the end of the class and quickly made friends with Kris as well. He was just a bit jealous that the two had managed to move on to objects more complicated than books.

* * *

_AN: This is kind of a filler... kind of a plot development... I am blocked and you, my lovely readers, deserve an update. I will try to get more up soon but I am bamboozled with how I should go about and have so much homework over the holidays along with work and swimming. I will get something else up before the new year, this I promise. _

_Thank you to all who reviewed. You bring me smiles. _


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or places_

* * *

Scorpius woke with a start. He clutched his arm and gasped in pain. Never before had his arm hurt this much. He didn't know why it was changing either. It wasn't his birthday. He cried out in pain again as another sting ran through the brand.

"Scorpius? You okay?" Albus' head appeared between the hangings of the bed. Scorpius could see the worry etched in the boy's face through the darkness.

"I'll- I'll be fine," Scorpius stuttered as another sharp pang ran through his entire body this time. He took a few deep breaths as the pain slowly seeped away. The pain was gone in the next instant, almost as if it was never there. Only a memory in his mind, and even then he was doubting if he was ever in pain in the first place.

Pulling back his sleeve, Scorpius looked to see which number had changed. 1:05:17:06:06, His generation, family members, family ranking, potential danger, and years left until his was of age. He knew why it had hurt so much now. His potential danger had risen two categories.

Albus climbed onto the bed and sat next to Scorpius, his eyes trained on the Brand. Scorpius didn't call the boys out on it like he would have anyone else. It was the first time the Albus was really seeing the thing. Scorpius kept it covered most of the time and Albus had been too polite to ask to see it.

"You said it hurt a little when a number changed..." Albus asked, his eyes glancing up at him. "It sounded like it was more than a little pain."

"It's nothing I can't handle, Albus. You shouldn't worry about it." Scorpius watched as the boy ran a hand trough his hair.

"I'm going to, though," Scorpius rolled his eyes at the boy's words. "What's changed?" Albus continued, looking up at Scorpius once more.

"My, um, my potential danger level" Scorpius pointed to the one that now shown as a dull green 6 "I've been expecting it, though. The more we get trained the more dangerous we become. At least, that is what my father told me." Scorpius shrugged, shoving his sleeve back down to cover his arm.

The two boys sat on the bed in silence for a while before Albus spoke up, "It will be a cool thing to show your father, right? Winter break starts tomorrow."

Scorpius rolled his eyes again at the boy who now had a large smile plastered on his face. "Yes Albus, as you have reminded me a million times already, winter break starts tomorrow." He gave the boy a playful shove, "And if you don't go back to bed soon, I will murder you and tomorrow will never come. " Albus just laughed at him and left the bed, muttering a goodnight as he left.

.: .: .:

The next morning Albus ran off to breakfast as soon as he woke up, unable to hold back his excitement.

"I swear that boy isn't a true Slytherin, the way he can't even attempt to control himself," Rick Henshaw commented after Albus all but flew out of the room.

"Well, he has been raised by a family full of Gryffindors," Scorpius defended, not taking his eyes off of the shirt he was folding and putting in his trunk.

"Which is why I have trusted our dear Scorpius to keep an eye on the boy. Believe me, Rick, you are far from the only one who has his suspicions about the Potter boy." Goyle commented as he emerged from the bathroom. "Right Scorpius?" Goyle asked, patting Scorpius on his shoulder.

"Exactly, as soon as Potter makes a wrong move, I'll be there to report it." Scorpius smirked, hiding his glare from Henshaw.

"We are going to blindly trust Malfoy here because..." Splint trailed off, sitting on his trunk. "I mean, his family was full of traitor and he act all buddy buddy with Potter." He rose an eyebrow towards Scorpius, challenging the Malfoy heir to prove him wrong.

"Has Goyle not told you all of the plan Splint?" Scorpius smirked at him, "I suppose not. He needs someone to look after him the entire time. Who better than a person who's family is full of traitor? Now if you will excuse me, I need to make sure that the plan isn't compromised." Scorpius stood and walked out of the room. Splint got under his skin. Ever since Goyle had managed to smooth talk Splint onto his cause Scorpius couldn't stand him. What was once the quite boy on the first day of term was now a calculative, self confident Slytherin .

He made his way towards the Grand Hall and found Albus standing by the Gryffindor table talking to a frizzy red head. Scorpius sighed as he made his way over to his friend. Another person he didn't like but had to talk to. The day was just shaping up to be a great one. At least after breakfast they would be on their way back to their respective households.

"Hey Albus, Good morning Rose." Scorpius said, nodding his head in the girl's direction.

"Hey Score, I was just telling Rose that she would be welcome to join us on the train." Albus grinned up at him.

"Is that so?" Scorpius said raising an eyebrow at the Weasley.

"Yes," Rose dragged out, giving Scorpius a pointed look before returning her gaze to Albus, "But I can't because I already promised Hailey that I would ride with her and Jen."

"What a shame," Scorpius drawled out, "Guess we'll deal with only Kris then. Come on Albus, I'm starving." With that being said, he grabbed Albus by the elbow and dragged the boy away from Rose and back to the Slytherin tables.

"I don't see why the two of you don't get along," Albus chuckled as he was half dragged and half followed Scorpius. "You should give her a chance."

Rolling his eyes, Scorpius sat down and started filling his plate with eggs, "I will give her a chance, once she stops pushing me away. How many times do we need to discuss this?"

"As many times as it take until I get what I want." Albus smirked at Scorpius.

.: .: .:

"You guys are going to get me presents right?" Kris demanded as the train pulled to a stop at Kings Cross station, raising her eyebrows at the boys. "Because then I would feel bad about getting you something and having to return it. Am I making myself Clare?"

"Krystal," the two boys replied, holding back a laugh. Sure they weren't allowed to make fun of the girl's name, but she could exploit the humor of it at any time.

"Good." She smirked at them, her mocha hands resting on her hips as she stared them down one last time before leaving the train compartment. She was likely going to run to her older brother and tell him all of the joys of being a witch. The muggle born girl was often talking fondly about her older brother and mother. Almost as much as Albus talked about his little sister Lily.

"Come on Scorpius, now that we are done with that crazy girl you can meet my family." Scorpius rolled his eyes as Albus pulled on his arm and dragged him out of the train. The boy pause for a second, looking for his family, before making a beeline towards them, dragging Scorpius close behind. Albus pushed his way through the crowd and Scorpius was relieved to make it to the boys family before the eldest Potter did. He wasn't looking forward to the complaints he was sure to hear from Albus in the near future about his brother.

"This is my mum, my dad, and my little sister, Lily." Albus finally let go of Scorpius and rushed forward to pick his sister up and spin her around in a hug before moving on to hug his parents. "And this," Albus continued, pulling away from his parents and indicating towards Scorpius, "Is my best friend Scorpius."

"Albus had written fondly of you, Scorpius," Mrs. Potter said, resting a hand on Lily's shoulder, "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Ron's going to flip when he realizes we weren't pulling his leg. Glad to meet you. " Mr. Potter smiled at Scorpius holding out his hand. Scorpius grinned as well and stepped forward to shake the man's hand.

"It was good to meet all of you as well. I best be going though. I'll see you later Albus." Scorpius gave them a smile before heading off towards his own family.

.: .: .:

"Scorpius, dinner is ready!" His mother's voice made its way to his ears and Scorpius put down his quill. He was working on the letters he was going to send to Albus and Kris that were to be attached to their presents. They would have to wait until after dinner then.

"... and the Henshaws will be coming as well. I received their owl this morning. Oh, Draco, this New Year's party will be grand. I can hardly wait." His mother was talking to his father animatedly, a large grin on her face. She loved to plan parties and loved being around people. Scorpius admired his mother. She was able to light up a room with a simple phrase. A trait that had won Draco over, as his father would say.

"That's great dear," Draco said, pulling out her chair before moving to his own.

"Scorpius, have you invited your friend yet? Or did you want me to. You know that the sooner you send out the invite the sooner you get a reply. I would hate for him to already have plans and not be able to come," Astoria smiled at her son.

"No, mother, I was working on the letter when you called me down." He began to cut into his steak.

"Be sure that you are only inviting the youngest Potter boy. It would be a fiasco if the entire family showed up." Draco chuckled to himself.

"Oh hush," Astoria swatted her hand towards Draco, "If all of them want to come they can. It's nothing we can't handle. Plus with Albus and Scorpius being friends, it would mean that you would have to end that petty squabble you have with Harry and talk to him for once."

"Whatever you say dear," Draco said, rolling his eyes at his wife.

The dinner continued in such a fashion. Astoria would talk about the party she was planning and everyone who was coming. Every now and then she would pause to ask Draco or Scorpius a question and have them participate in the conversation.

"Scorpius, don't wait much longer on getting those presents sent out," Astoria said as she got up, "Tomorrow is Christmas eve and you know how long it will take for the packages to go through processing. If you want them to get out in time you should send them this evening or in the morning at the latest." She made her way over towards Scorpius and ruffled his hair before kissing him on the cheek.

She made her way over to Draco next, "Also boys, I'm feeling tired after all of this planning, and the house elves have their day off today," she chuckled lightly, questioning the Elf rights as she always did. "So I want both of you to do the dishes." She kissed Draco and then sauntered her way out of the room.

"Merlin," Draco grumbled, "How is it that she always managed to get us to do the dishes on the off days? Even when you are at Hogwarts she gets me to do them." He smirked at Scorpius before leading the way to the kitchen, carrying his and Astoria's plates.

"The same way she gets you to agree to the party every year," Scorpius drawled, placing his plate in the sink and filling it with hot water. "I needed to talk to you privately anyway. "

Draco raised an eyebrow at his son as he rolled up the sleeves to his robe. Scorpius glanced at his father's numbers, -0:05:17:15:00-7, before rolling up his own sleeves. His father had the mark of a traitor. As did his Grandfather and Grandmother. It had caused them many problems. Traitors were never accepted by either side. One was looking down on you for taking so long to come to realization, one was glaring at you for stabbing them in the back. His family was full of traitors, just as Splint said, and Scorpius knew he was already shaping up to be one too. He just didn't know which side he was going to commit to yet.

"In the war," Scorpius started, shoving his hands into the water and scrubbing the first dish he grabbed, "What made the family change sides?"

"Haven't we talked about this already?" Draco said, but continued to explain in a bored tone anyway, "We switched because it was what was best for the family. My mother wanted us to stay together and live through it. My father was tired of being mistreated. I was saved by the other side," Draco listed the reasons off and took out his wand to magically dry the plates Scorpius was setting aside. "Why is it that you ask? Having a hard time at school?"

"Something like that," Scorpius muttered. "It's just... Daniel thinks that Albus asked to be put into Slytherin to be a spy. " Scorpius trailed off, not really sure how to continue.

"Do you believe that?"

Scorpius sighed and turned to face his father, leaning against the counter. "Not really. But Daniel is so sure of it, and I'm in charge of looking after him because I get along well with him. I can't really tell Daniel to piss off because I don't trust him."

"Do you trust the Potter boy?" Draco asked, gazing at his son. Scorpius didn't know what to think about the way his father was looking at him, so he chose to ignore it.

"Yes," Scorpius said after a moment's pause.

"Alright," Draco sighed once he realized Scorpius wasn't going to elaborate. "Our family made it through the war by trusting our gut more than what was told to us. I can tell you now that if I had listened to words that were said to me, I wouldn't be here. If you trust Potter more than you do Daniel, then you should go with that. At the same time, don't burn any bridges that you don't have to. You never know when they might become useful."

Scorpius thought on his father's words for a moment. "Alright, thanks." He turned back to the sink, sticking his hands back into the water, whishing that he could have learned how to do the chore with magic and not have any restrictions against it.

"Scorpius," the boy turned to find his father standing behind him. Draco kneeled, picked up a towel, and started to dry his son's arms. Scorpius was confused, as there was still the glasses in the sink, but didn't say a word. "I'm sorry that you have to grow up so fast because of my mistakes." Draco smiled softly up at his son, but Scorpius could see the regret in his father's eyes. He still didn't know what to say as his father set down the towel and stood back up.

"Go ahead to your room and finish your letters. I'll take care of the rest." Scorpius nodded and made his way out of the kitchen.

"And Scorpius," His father called out, causing him to pause at the door, "Invite the whole Potter family. It would be good to see Potter's ugly face again."

"Will do," Scorpius chuckled, rushing to his room as soon as the kitchen door closed behind him.

* * *

_AN: I am very pleased with how this came out, even if I am a day late in getting it out. Would you believe that I fell asleep around 11 last night and missed out on the New Year's fireworks. Stupid swim practice! Haha, but how is this update to start of the new year? With any luck, next chapter will be the end of first year. So much for getting through the first two with speed -shrugs-_

_Review Replies_

_maryn90  
Rose will be in the story, don't worry. I have plans for her farther into the story. Right now she just doesn't mean much to Scorpius so we are not seeing much of her. _

_Thank you to Reader-anonymous-writer and guest for reviewing as well! _


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or places_

* * *

Scorpius woke on Christmas morning and walked down to the front parlor. It was the only day that he was allowed to walk out of his room without changing and he took advantage of it every year. He found his mother already waiting in the parlor, her bright blue dress robes swirling around her as she went about making sure that everything is straight.

"Calm down Tori." Draco said, walking in behind his son, "Next week is when everyone comes over."

"Oh hush Draco, you know I always get nervous when your parents come over. Morning Scorpius." She smiled at her son and motioned for him to sit down.

"Morning mother, father," Scorpius yawned, practically falling into his chair. Draco nodded towards him and sat down as well.

"They are coming over later for dinner, which will be magnificent as always," drawled Draco. The two males waited as they usually did for Astoria to stop fussing around. After a few more minutes, her shoulders dropped and she let out a sigh.

"I'm done, " She paused for a moment before sitting on the couch next to a smirking Draco, "For now."

Draco chuckled before standing up. "Now that you are done dear, we are going to throw rubbish around as we open presents." He grinned at her and kneeled down next to the tree. Box after box was pulled out and paper was thrown onto the floor as promised. Draco had received new dress robes from Astoria who threatened that if he wasn't wearing them tonight for dinner he would have a bad week until New Years. In the return she threatened the same thing to Scorpius when he opened his own dress robes.

The lot was good this year, Scorpius thought, as he looked at the new gifts. Yet as he gazed at the new robes and other things, he couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. There were gifts from his mother and father, some from his grandparents, a box of muggle candy from Krystal, and even a book on chess moves from Goyle. There wasn't, however, a gift from Albus. He had thought that he would at least get something from the boy. After all he did get Albus pounds of chocolate frogs and took the time to make sure that none of them contained his father, Albus Dumbledore, or Severus Snape.

"Perhaps," his mother said, coming up behind him and gathering a few of the items, "he sent the gift late and it will come later in the day." She smiled at him.

"Maybe," Scorpius sighed and went to pick up the rest of the presents.

"That's the spirit," His mother nudged him with her elbow before walking up the stairs towards his room. "I'm going to set your new robes on the bed, I expect you to be in them an hour before your grandparents get here."

"Yes mother," Scorpius replied, trailing after her to put everything away.

.: .: .:

The door bell rang as Scorpius was putting on his last shoe. Once the thing was on, he rushed his way down stairs to the main entrance. It would cause more stress on his mother if he wasn't standing there and waiting when his grandparents walked into the manor.

His father raised an eyebrow at him as he made his way to stand next to him but didn't say a word. Within a few seconds, the voices of Astoria and Narcissa came floating down the hallway. Soon the two appeared, as well as Lucius. Draco immediately moved forward to greet his mother and father and Astoria turned to smile at Scorpius, effectively hiding the stress in her eyes.

Scorpius greeted his grandparents as well before they were ushered into the dining room. He still didn't know why his mother got so agitated when his grandparents came over. They seemed to like her well enough. They approved of her that was for sure.

As everyone sat down and began eating, Narcissa started the conversation.

"So, Scorpius, how has Hogwarts been treating you?"

"It has been fine, Grandma, I'm learning new things and have made a good amount of friends," he replied politely. There was something about his grandparents that seemed to request the formality. Perhaps that was why Astoria always fretted about when they were around.

"Who is it that you have befriended?" Lucius asked, "after all, getting ahead is half of what you can do and half of who you know." He smirked as he cut into his steak.

"I have," Scorpius paused for a second, glancing over at his father to know how he should continue. His parents had taken his friendship to Albus Potter well, but he knew that his grandfather still held some resentment about the war. The older Lucius got, the less he held back his own thoughts, especially when around his family.

His mother smiled at him, silently telling him to go on, while his father patted his knee under that table. He took a breath, glad to know that his parents were on his side, and continued.

"I have made friends with everyone who was sorted into my house as well with a few others. There is Daniel Goyle, Rick Henshaw, Sean Splint, " Lucius was nodding along as Scorpius listed off the names. "And there is also A-"

At that moment, Scorpius was interrupted as an owl came flying in through the door, a house elf running after it. The bird flew around the room, it's feathers were sticking up in random places. It was struggling to get away from the elf as it clung to the package. The elf kept chasing after the bird, oblivious to the wizards staring at him as he ranted at the bird to come down.

The chaos went on for a few seconds before Draco stood and cleared his throat. At that moment the elf finally realized where he was, gave a scared glance towards the standing man, uttered a pathetic "sorry" and popped out of the room. Once the elf was gone the owl let out a screech, dropped the package in front of Scorpius, and flew hastily out of the room.

Silence settled over the room. Scorpius looked up from the package towards his parents. "Obviously, that owl was on a mission, open it," his mother said smiling at him. Draco chuckled next to her and nodded.

Just like every package or letter he had ever received from the mail, there was obvious signs that it had already been opened and hastily put back into order. On the top corner there was a purple stamp on the torn packaging paper, proudly stating that the package was checked and approved by the ministry's interception squad. It was obvious that the squad was in a rush with Christmas, most of the times you could only tell that it was opened by the stamp. Scorpius shrugged off the thought of someone already knowing what was in his package before him and reached for the letter tied on top of the box.

"It's from Albus," Scorpius smiled up at his parents before looking back down at the letter.

_Hey Scorpius,_

_I hope you are having a good break. I am for the most part, I just wish James would get off my back, but I'll talk to you about him later. I'm sure that he is bound to make even more of a mess than he already has._

_I wanted to invite you to my family's New Year party, but my mum said that you would probably be busy with your own._

_I hope you like your gift,_

_Albus_

Scorpius chucked at the letter knowing full well that the train ride back to Hogwarts would be filled with a rant about James. He chose to ignore the fact that both of them had invited the other to a New Year's gathering and started to tear at the openings in the paper, egger to find what was inside.

"What could the Potter spawn have to say to my grandson?" Lucius growled. The statement caused Scorpius to stop his motions and look up at his grandfather. The glare he received made him want to shrink back into his chair and disappear.

"Albus," his father spoke up, stressing the other boy's name, "happens to be Scorpius' friend. One of the better ones, right son." Draco turned towards Scorpius, who nodded in reply.

"I told you he was just late sending his package out and that it would come later," his mother laughed at him, "what did he get you?"

Before Scorpius could even reach out and attempt to tear the paper off the box again, Lucius stood up, his chair making a loud screech as it was pushed against the hard wood. "Are you telling me that _he_," Lucius snarled, pointing his finger in Scorpius' direction and glaring at Astoria, "Is close enough to the son of Potter to exchange gifts? The same Potter that put _these _on our arms," He thrust out his Brand, "and placed the restrictions on us, restrictions that Potter's own son doesn't know about. And the two of you are alright with this?"

"Why wouldn't we be alright with it?" Astoria said, standing as well, "It isn't _Harry's _fault that this family is branded and it wouldn't be _Albus' _fault if he didn't know about any restrictions that hang around this family. If you want to go around pointing fingers, then you should take a step back and look at your own actions." Astoria crossed her arms and ignored the way that Draco tried to pull her back to her seat.

A small smirk crossed the older man's face and he placed his palm on the table, leaning towards Astoria. "While it may be my fault that _my _family was on the side that lost, _you_ were the one who didn't do anything but marry my son. Tell me, Astoria, were you spared from the brand? After all, your family stayed as far away from the war as possible." Lucius' voice was smug, his pride telling him that he won the battle when he saw Astoria uncross her arms to hide the branded one behind her back.

"That was my own doing," Astoria shot back, "after all you were the one who would warn-"

Draco cleared his throat and stood up, pulling on his wife's arm to silence her, "I really don't feel like hearing this argument again and I'm sure it isn't something I want Scorpius to hear either. You see, fathers tend to shield things from their sons to protect them a little longer. "

Astoria let out a sigh and turned to Scorpius, "Why don't you take your present and head up to your room. Your father and I will be there in a bit." She gave him a small smile and winked at him.

"Indeed," Narcissa said, standing as well, "I think it is time for us to go, we won't hold you from your family. Now Scorpius, say goodbye to your grandfather and I."

Scorpius glanced back and forth between his parents and grandparents, seeing for the first time the tension between them. He stood up and crossed the room, giving his grandmother and hug. When he moved towards his grandfather, the man simply turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Lucius!" Astoria screamed, yanking her arm from Draco's grasp. "Don't you dare teat my son like that! He has done nothing wrong, " she marched out of the room yelling at the man as she went.

Draco let out a sigh when he heard his own father start to shout back a reply. "Scorpius, go on up to your room, we will be there in a bit." They heard the sound of breaking glass and the remaining three all flinched, "maybe a little longer."

Scorpius nodded and made his way out of the room, grabbing Albus' present as he went.

"I'm sorry you are going to have to deal with him later, mother." Scorpius hear his father say as he walked out.

"Oh, Draco, I've put up with him for over forty years now. It's you I worry about. Astoria is just as hot headed as he is." Scorpius heard his grandmother laugh lightly before everything was drowned out by more screaming from his mother.

* * *

_AN: I am sorry for being a terrible person and not updating in forever. I started working again and I never have a free day anymore. excuses excuses. Anyway, swim team is over so I will be able to write in the mornings instead of going to practice and that will help with the updating a lot. I hope y'all liked this chapter and I hope to have another one up by Monday. _

_B4wuzden and Aya Diefair I_ _have fixed the mistake that y'all pointed out, thank you! and B4wuzden, Clare is Krystal's last name. _

_Thank you to anyone who reviewed, those always make my day!_


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or places_

* * *

Scorpius opened up his package as he waited for his parents to come up to his room. He grinned when he saw what it was Albus had gotten him. It was a snow globe with the Hogwarts castle. When he shook the thing, instead of snow, fireworks littered the crystal sky. It was a cute whimsical thing.

After a while his parents came into his room again, but by then Scorpius had already placed the snow globe on his mantle and had fallen asleep while he waited.

The next morning he woke to an owl tapping on his window, a letter tied to his leg. Scorpius rubbed his eyes and moved to let the owl in. The tawny beast flew in and circled his room a few times before settling on Scorpius' outstretched arm.

After he removed the letter, the owl quickly took off out the window. Scorpius glanced down at the letter, the purple stamp being the only sign that the message had already been read. Scorpius placed his thumb over the taunting purple ink, he could almost pretend that it wasn't there.

_Scorpius, _

_My mother said that we had already made a commitment to Nana that we would be going to the Weasley party and they we wouldn't be able to make it to yours. _

_sorry_

_Albus_

Scorpius sighed and paced the letter on his nightstand before changing into robes. He was hungry.

.: .: .:

The new year's party passed in a lazy fashion. Scorpius plastered on a fake smile and made conversation with the guest, spending most of his time with Daniel Goyle and the other Slytherins. He did his best to ignore the tension between his grandfather and his mother and tried not to read too much into the smile his grandfather had when seeing him with Goyle and the others.

Soon his parents were escorting him back to the Hogwarts express and Scorpius felt relief to finally be out of the manor and back to school. It was funny how he was so worried about going to school earlier in the year, and now he was looking forward to it. He couldn't wait to get away from the looks his parents were trying not to let him see and all the time he spent doing nothing. At least at Hogwarts he could ignore what was going on and listen to Albus rant about something, he was even looking forward to the boy's rant that would take up the train ride. He wanted to settle back into his normal ways for school life.

He found Albus at the entrance to one of the compartments tugging on Rose's arm. "Come on Rosie, sit with me." He begged, giving her his perfected puppy eyes that had managed to get Scorpius to do a few things he wouldn't usually have.

"I spent all Christmas listening to your whining Albus, I haven't seen Hailey since break started." Rose gave Albus a firm glare, trying to pull her arm out of his grip.

"You can see her at dinner tonight, please, for me?" Once again Albus gave her his puppy pout, his sparkling emerald eyes going wide and his bottom lip jutting out. Scorpius would have caved already, he was beginning to entertain the idea that the flaming red head would be joining their compartment.

It seemed that Rose had built up her resistance to Albus as she finally managed to pull her arm away. "No, Albus, I won't sit with h- you," she stuttered on the last word when she looked up and saw Scorpius watching their spat. Then she sent him a glare and walked out of the compartment Albus had been trying to pull her into.

"Hey Al!" Scorpius called, walking into the compartment, pretending not to have heard the conversation between him and his cousin.

"Scor!" Albus launched at Scorpius and gave him a hug. "I missed you! We have a lot to talk about!" he said pulling away and sitting down on the seat. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your party, but I made my mum let me go to next year's."

"What party?" Kris said as she slid into the compartment. She smiled and plopped down into the seat across from them, "And why wasn't I invited?" she asked, flicking her black curls out of her face.

"Sorry Kris, maybe next year," Scorpius shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"Oh I get it," She said, pressing a hand to her chest with a wide smile, "Mister 'my family is full of deatheaters' doesn't want a mudblood at his house." she laughed, leaning against the window and throwing her legs up on the other side of the seat. Scorpius rolled his eyes. That was what he liked about Krystal, she was open about herself and didn't let anything get to her. She was able to make a joke about almost anything, even if some people didn't take it as a joke. He supposed that was what happened when both of our parents stand up comedians.

"Anyway," Scorpius drawled out, turning back to Albus, "While she is off in the corner having her pity party," at this Krystal stuck her tongue out at him, "What was it that you wanted to talk about Al?"

"Oh, let's see, there is James being an arse the entire break, Uncle Ron throwing a fit, purple stamps. Oh! and Lily thinks that you are cute." Albus had a wide grin on his face, laughing at the thought.

"I was starting to wonder if anyone was going to think that you were cute," Krystal teased, "though the fact that it is Al's little sister doesn't mean much, she's probably heard so many stories that idolize you."

"Oh shut is Kris," Scorpius laughed, "I still haven't heard about any boys calling out about you."

"I don't have time for boy's right now," was her quick reply "they have cooties and I need to focus on my school work. our O.W.L.s are only four and a half years away." She managed to keep a straight face on for a few seconds before she burst out laughing, the two boys joining in with her.

"But seriously, Albus, on your list of things to talk about," Krystal continued once she had caught her breath, "James is always an arse, so that is nothing new with you. Your Uncle Ron, we don't know him, so why would we care about his tantrum. And purple stamps?" she shook her head "if those are about our intercepted letters, then it seems like everything you have to talk about revolves around our dear Scorpius," she chuckled lightly.

"How can you get off on saying that they are all about Scorpius? James is about James, my Uncle Ron is about him, only the purple stamps really apply to him," Albus shot back crossing his arms. Krystal just rolled her eyes but urged him to continue on with his stories.

Albus went on to talk about how James was being a prat all break saying that Slytherins were stupid and notorious for not giving presents over Christmas so Albus shouldn't expect any from his friends and that if he was to give presents he would be discriminating them. Scorpius noticed that Albus would let out a small stutter sometimes when he said 'Slytherins' making him grin slightly, knowing that it was probably his name that belonged there but Albus was proving his point to Krystal.

Scorpius couldn't believe that James was acting this way about everything. He thought that the Gryffindor would eventually get over whatever it was that he held against Scorpius. Apparently he wasn't, though, and Scorpius hated that he was the reason the two brothers relationship as strained.

"What about your Christmas?" Krystal asked when Albus stopped to take a breath, "Oh and thanks for the book of wizards famous in the muggle world, my brother and I spent hours looking over it." She smiled brightly.

"I'm glad you liked it," Scorpius smiled, "The break in general was pretty uneventful. Christmas was a little crazy though." Scorpius smiled at the memory and launched into the story of the elf chasing after Albus' owl . He was careful not to mention the events that shortly followed once the chaos had settled down, preferring the laugh that he got from his friends over the yells of his grandfather.

"Why was my owl that late?" Albs managed to get out through his fit of laughter, "I sent him early in the morning, it shouldn't have taken that long."

Krystal sobered up quickly giving a quick glance to Scorpius before looking at Albus, "It was Christmas Al, the interception squad's busiest time of the year. Sometimes the owl's end up waiting there for a day or two. You should be lucky that Scorpius got it at dinner if you sent it on Christmas morning."

Scorpius was watching Albus and how he reacted towards the words. The Slytherin boy was looking down at his feet, chewing his lip. Scorpius saw that his grandfather was right, Albus didn't know about the interception squad. Perhaps he didn't know any of the restrictions that were placed on people with the brand. Scorpius wondered if his gift was the first time that Albus saw a purple stamp on his mail.

"Albus," Scorpius said, reaching a hand to rest on the boy's shoulder, "Did you know about that at all?"

"Not really," Albus shook his head, "I mean I knew that the ministry sometimes looked in letters, but I thought that it was only for the people that we really needed to worry about," he shrugged, "Is that what the purple stamps are about?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said, "Every letter send by or to someone with a brand gets looked over by the ministry. In the eyes of the wizarding community, anyone with a brand is someone that we should worry about."

"Well that's stupid," Albus ran a hand trough his hair, "I'm sorry about that Scor"

"Hey," Scorpius said with a small smile, "It's not you who should be apologizing. Besides, I have lived with this my entire life, it's alright."

Albus gave out a small chuckle, "No, it's not."

Krystal let out a groan, "It doesn't matter. It's there and we can't do anything to change it. What we can do though, is ask me how my vacation was."

Scorpius rolled his eyes, gave Albus another squeeze on his should before dropping his hand, and asked Krystal how her break had gone.

"Oh, it was great!" she gushed, "We hadn't even made it all the way home from Kings Cross before my brother told me to shut up because he was jealous." She went on speaking about how everything went over her break and how her parents had let her redecorate her room however she wanted and it was now overdone in Ravenclaw claw colors.

Eventually they changed into their school robes and made their way to the welcome back feast. The rest of the school year passed in the same fashion of the previous semester and everyone was back on their way to summer vacation, making promises to see each other or meet up when they were buying next year's school supplies.

* * *

_AN: Short chapter, but first year is now over, (thank Merlin). We got to see a little bit more of Krystal Clare and a little bit more of the restrictions that are placed on the Branded. I am hoping to breeze through summer vacation and second year. Please hang in there with me. It is going to be a fun ride. _

_also be on the lookout for a "short" story that I hope to have out by the end of the month, It kind of got me distracted from this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and please review!_


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: I don't own anything that is recognizable_

* * *

The letters for second year had come in the middle of August. Thinking on just how fast the summer went, Scorpius opened the letter and glanced over the new materials that he would need. Mostly books, but he would also have to take his robes in as he had grown a few inches and they no longer fit properly.

At Diagon Ally, Scorpius was just finish his shopping when he managed to talk his father into stopping to get a treat at Fortescue's Parlor. The two had just finished ordering and had sat down with their treats when the bell on the door rung. Scorpius turned and saw Albus run straight to the line, his sister Lily hot on his trial. Scorpius held back a chuckle as he saw the boy looking up at the menu, talking at the speed of light. Albus' sweet tooth had blocked him from seeing Scorpius sitting in the back corner of the shop.

The bell rang again and Harry Potter walked in along with James. Harry looked around the shop as soon as he entered, and nodded in their direction. When James saw the nod, he turned to see them as well. Glaring at Scorpius, James walked over towards his brother. Scorpius watched the family with interest. James was trying to shield them from the middle potters view of their table. Lily was practically pressing her nose up to the glass and pointing at a flavor she wanted. Albus was giving his father his pleading face, Scorpius could only assume that he was trying to talk his father into giving him another scoop.

Scorpius chuckled as he saw that Albus did walk out of the line with an extra scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Lily and James had both walked out of the line with the newest flavor of strawberry that was said to fizzle and spark when it was eaten. Scorpius called out Albus' name right before the family walked out onto the patio, causing all of the family to turn and look at them. Scorpius smirked at the glare that James gave him and the bright smile that showed up on Albus' face as he began to drag his family over. The last time the two boys had seen each other was when they walked off the train before summer. They had been exchanging letters as well, but they were nothing compared to actually talking.

"Hey Scor," Albus said, taking the seat right next to him, "Fancy seeing you here."

"Well, I would assume that many people would be trudging their way through Diagon Alley right now for school supplies," Scorpius smirked, "How's your summer been?"

"Albus," James interrupted before the boy could get another word out, "We still have a lot to do, and I'm sure that the Malfoys do as well," he nodded his head towards the door and brought attention to the fact that the entire family was still standing.

"Actually," Draco said as James started to walk away, "We have time to waste as Astoria is to meet us in a few hours for dinner. Might as well let the two boys talk." he shrugged and took a bit of his ice cream, doing his best to hide his smirk and he winked at Scorpius.

"Yeah James," Albus grinned, "all we need to do now is get our robes." With that said, Albus turned back to Scorpius and started talking about how things have been going. Scorpius listened to Albus, and took in the scene around him. Lily had taken the seat across from them and was nodding along to what her brother was saying as if she was emphasizing the story. Her hair was longer from the last time he saw her, the red hair curling just at her waist. James and Harry has sat themselves at a table next to them. James was fuming, glaring in his direction every now and then. Scorpius tried to hide his smirk every time he caught the Gryffindor looking over their way. While the two parents were not talking, they were both contently sitting there and eating their ice cream.

"And Lily will be joining us at Hogwarts this year," Albus grinned, his eyes shining as he looked over at his little sister.

"Yep," she smiled shyly at Scorpius, quickly getting another spoonful of her ice cream. "I can't wait."

Scorpius started to talk about his on summer and how he had done absolutely nothing except hang around the house. "Kris will be proud of me," he said chuckling, "There was nothing that interesting to do at the manor, so I ended up doing all of my homework in the first couple of weeks."

"Oh!" Lily exclaimed as she finished her ice cream, "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts." She said again, ginning from ear to ear glancing back and forth between her brothers. It was obvious that she didn't like the year she had alone with her parents.

"Well," James drawled out, standing up, "if you just can't wait to go to Hogwarts, then we should go and get our robes, right dad?" HIs knuckled were white against the chair he was gripping.

Harry looked up quickly, as if he was startled to be brought into the conversation.

"Er, yeah," he shrugged, getting up, "Ginny will be wondering what we have been up to. It was… Nice seeing you again Malfoy, Scorpius." James smiled and started his way towards the door, not bothering to say anything resembling a farewell towards the Malfoys. Lily smiled and waved goodbye, jumped up, and followed her eldest brother towards the door.

Albus rolled his eyes at his brothers actions before turning back to face Scorpius. "Sorry 'bout him," he shrugged and stood up as well, "See you Scor, Mr. Malfoy."

"Al!" Scorpius called out, just before the boy walked out the door behind his family, "Never apologies for something that somebody else does." Albus grinned at him before he walked out the door.

Scorpius turned to look at his father as the man started chuckling. Raising an eyebrow, Scorpius wondered what had gotten into his father. The man just shook his head and chuckled a little more, "I have never seen Potter so out of place before."

.: .: .:

Glancing around platform 9 3/4, Scorpius was glad that he was one of the first to arrive at the train. His parents had something with his maternal grandfathers real-estate business and had to drop him off almost three hours before the train left. Scorpius resigned himself to picking a compartment for him, Kris, and Albus to sit in. He would at least be able to pick one of the better ones off in the corner. After picking a compartment, Scorpius picked out a book to pass the time.

He was midway through the first chapter of his book when Kris burst into the compartment, throwing the door open with a clang. "Scorpius!" she sing-songed obnoxiously causing him to wince. "It has been so long," again she continued to sing song, dragging out the 'so' for five seconds, "Almost, like, the whole summer!" Throwing her hands out in exasperation, she plopped down onto the seat across from him, laughing.

He gazed up at her, closing the book in his lap. "What, exactly, was that about?" He asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"What?" She smirked at him, "I can't reenact the reunitement of the two girls in the next compartment?" She burst into a fit of laughter, "but seriously, Scor, lighten up you big Slytherin." She kicked her feet up to the end of the seat and leaned against the window, making herself right at home.

"I wouldn't get to comfortable," Scorpius said, reaching to put his book away and to check his watch. Still one more hour before the train took off. "Albus' little sister is going to be joining us today. That and he said that he thinks he will be able to get his cousins to sit with us as well."

"Which ones?" she asked, stretching out on the seat even more.

"Which ones do you think," Scorpius grumbled, "Rose, and probably her little brother."

"Knew it," Kris breathed out, closing her eyes. "That boy begs her to join us every time he can. It's almost unslytherin of him. Unless of course he believes that the girl will eventually break and he will get what he wants."

"Well, he got it. Besides, it's Albus, he _always_ gets what he wants." Scorpius rolled his eyes. He wasn't all too happy that Rose Weasley would most likely be joining them on their ride to Hogwarts. She hadn't ever made any attempt to try and get to know them. In fact she came up with every excuse that she could to get out of meeting Scorpius.

"But she is such a brat. Thinking she knows everything," Kris scoffed, "Half the time she just prattles on about nothing. Most the Ravenclaws just roll our eyes at her and do our best to ignore it." Scorpius smirked at Kris' comments, glad that he wasn't the only one who thought that. Granted he had never had a legitimate conversation with the girl, Albus liked her for some reason. It was obvious that the boy cared more about her opinion more than his brother's. Scorpius would just have to wait and see if there was some redeeming quality to Rose before he made any promises.

Scorpius and Kris continued to chat as more people showed up. They would send away anyone who would walk into their compartment and a few times Kris talked to a couple Ravenclaws that had come to see her. Most of them would ignore Scorpius entirely, and he wasn't sure if he appreciated it or was annoyed by it. For one, he wasn't bothered by people he had no intention of being anything but pleasant to, but he knew that people were giving his a wide berth simply because he was branded a threat by society.

Finally, almost five minutes before the train left, Albus came rushing into the compartment, dragging Lily in behind him. He grinned and sat down next to Scorpius, pulling Lily in right next to him. "Hey guys!" he said excitedly, practically bouncing on his seat.

"Whoa, calm down Al," Kris smiled, "I'm about to forget that you are a cool and collected Slytherin," Albus stuck his tongue out at her but settled down none the less. Lily just giggled at the two.

Rose was suddenly standing in the doorway, holding the writ of a boy with a crazy mop of curly read hair resting upon his freckled face. The boy's brow eyes glanced around the compartment while Rose just looked at Kris with a raised eyebrow. She looked as if she was forcing herself just to stand there and that Kris stretched out on the seat was just another thing that she didn't want to put up with.

Kris rolled her eyes and sat up with a sigh, moving closer towards the window to make room for the two. Albus shot her a look, a silent warning to be nice. Kris just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Anyway," Albus said, turning to smile at his cousins, "guys, you already know my sister Lily, but this is Hugo Weasley," He nodded over towards the boy, "And Hugo this is-"

"Krystal Clare," Kris said, interrupting Albus and reaching over Rose to shake hands with the boy. Hugo smiled and shook hands with her.

"Is that really your name?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"My parents are comedians," she shrugged and took her hand back, leaning against the window, sizing the boy up fully. Apparently he matched up in the girls books because after a second she grinned, "_You_ can call me Kris." It was obvious the comment was only towards Hugo and not his older sister as well.

"Anyway," Albus let out, running a hand trough his hair, "This is Scorpius Malfoy."

"I heard you had a Brand. Can I see it?"

"HUGO!" Rose gasped, her eyes wide in shock, "I'm sorry Malfoy, I can't beli-"

"It's fine Weasley," Scorpius said, shutting her up. He shrugged and looked passed her towards her brother. Perhaps there was something alright about this boy. "You really want to see it?" He asked, only to have Hugo nod enthusiastically at him. Scorpius glanced over at Albus who only shrugged. Scorpius smirked and looked back at the boy, "Alright." With that, Scorpius rolled up his sleeve to show the boy.

The numbers 1:05:17:07:05 showed brightly on his arm. Hugo's eyes widened and Rose winced slightly, turning to look away. Lily leaned in as well to look at the numbers.

"Hey," Albus said, nudging Scorpius, "Did you gain over the summer?" Scorpius nodded at him. The six had changed to a seven midway through the summer, just after he finished his old homework. He was starting to feel a little uncomfortable with everyone staring at his arm. He wasn't used to this kind of attention.

"What do the numbers mean again?" Lily asked, pulling her hair over one shoulder.

"Well, this first number," Scorpius explained, pointing at the indicated number, "Tells people what generation I am with the brand. The next two tell people how many close relatives I had that was in league with the Dark Lord"

"Please, stop," Rose interrupted, but Scorpius ignored her. The younger two were still looking at him as if he was the most interesting person in the world.

"The next two show how high the family ranking was. As you can see, mine is pretty high. The highest in fact." Scorpius looked at the two first years, if they were bothered by this information they didn't show it. "Now these next two are supposed to be the potential threat I am towards society. This number changes as I get over and will eventually reach a peak around the end of my schooling." Again he looked up at the two, yet they were still eager for him to continue, "And the last two numbers are just the years I have until I become of age." He shrugged and rolled his sleeve back down, glad to have to green glow of the brand blocked once more.

"That's pretty cool," Hugo said, leaning back in his chair.

"No, it isn't cool Hugo," Rose said firmly, "He, and anyone else with the brand, is a threat to society. Dad said that we should stay away from people like him and just because-"

"Merlin Weasley," Kris practically shouted, "Let the kid have his own opinion. Just because you follow everything that your family says, doesn't mean that the other two have to." Kris was giving Rose her death eyes and the compartment was silent for a while aside from the sound of the wind pushing against the train.

There was suddenly a knock on the door, "Anything from the trolley dears?" Albus suddenly stood up and pushed his way towards the trolley lady, "Want anything? My treat," Albus grinned at them, reaching into his pocket for his money.

"Oh! Bertie Bott's please," Lily grinned. Her request was soon followed by Kris asking for a chocolate frog, Hugo for a licorice wand, and eventually Scorpius was pushed into getting a pumpkin pastry. Albus got his own fair share of treated and Rose said nothing. Nobody bothered to get her to change her mind.

"So," Albus drawled once the trolley lady had left and he sat back down, "Lily is going to be joining us in the Slytherin common room, isn't that right Lily," Albus nudged her with a smirk.

"Well, I don't know," She said twirling a bit of hair around her fingers.

"Don't know eh?" Scorpius chuckled, "Slytherin is the best house, I can tell you that. If you get in that house then everyone knows that you are going to go somewhere. House of ambition and all." He smirked, looking over at the girl, "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

"Except for, you know, maybe Ravenclaw," Kris joined in, "We have all of the smartest people in the grade. Ambition only gets you so far, you need brains to get you the rest of the way."

"Whatever Kris," Albus laughed, "everyone in this compartment knows that Slytherin is where it is at. The green and silver would look great on Lily, maybe even Hugo." Albus smiled.

"Well," Rose butted in. Scorpius did everything he could to hold back a groan. He knew that if they were going to talk up their houses, it would only be a matter of time until she had to put her own thoughts out there, "Gryffindor is where most of the family is. Besides mom was the best in here year and she wasn't in Ravenclaw. Uncle Harry and dad also are at the top of the Auror department and they were in Gryffindor. If you want to go somewhere in the word," She shot a glare at Scorpius, "then you need some courage to actually get there.

"Well, what about Hufflepuff?" Hugo asked, glancing between everyone in the group.

"Hufflepuff," Kris started, "Is where all the people who you want as your best friend go. They are the ones who are loyal through and through and will never leave your side. I think my brother would be in that house." She started to chuckle.

The train started to pull to a stop and the six stood up and walked out of the compartment. Lily and Hugo ran off towards Hagrid who was yelling for all the first years to follow him towards the boats. The other four followed the crowd towards carriages that seemed to move on their own accord. They all climbed into one carriage.

"Weasley," Scorpius said once the carriage was moving. Albus gave him a look, but he ignored the boy as he focused solely on the red head. "I don't care what you personally think about me, but don't try and push your opinions onto other people. Especially when they are wrong."

Rose looked him up and down, facing the challenge that Scorpius gave her head on. Eventually she crossed her arms and looked away from him when she realized that the Slytherin wasn't going to back down. "Fine." It was silent the rest of the ride to the castle.

* * *

_AN: So now we are back at school for the second year. We get to meet Rose a little bit. Before you ask, no I have nothing against Rose, I just have plans for her. I wanted to get a little farther into this, but that just seemed like a great stopping point. Anyway I seriously am trying at getting better at updating._


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: I do not own any recognizable characters or places_

As soon as the carriage stopped in front of the castle, Scorpius shoved his way out and marched up the steps. He couldn't believe he was letting this get to him. Why should he care what Rose thought of him. Who was she anyway to think she could judge him. Scorpius scoffed at the thought, _he _was a threat to society, but _she _ wasn't, sure.

"Scor!" he heard from behind him. Another internal battle formed in his head. Should he wait for Albus, knowing that the boy was only going to lecture him on how he treated his cousin, or should he prolong the wait and continue to push through the crowd. He heard his name called again and let out a growl of frustration as he stopped. People pushed past him, their complaints on his stopping in the middle of the stairs falling on deaf ears. Scorpius just clenched his fists until he felt Albus' hand rest on his shoulder and press him forward.

He felt an arm link through his and looked over to see the concerned blue eyes of Kris. Scorpius closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm fine," he muttered as the three stopped again out of the crowd's way just outside of the Great Hall. Albus raised his eye brows at him but didn't say anything else on the subject.

"You may be fine now, but you are going to have to deal with a moping Albus later tonight," Kris interjected, smiling at the two and easing the tension as she always did, "As amazing as his sister is, she is a total Gryffindor." She nudged Scorpius with her elbow causing him to chuckle.

"I don't know" Albus shrugged, a small smile forming on his face, "Lily is known for her surprises, and they way she keeps fawning over Scor, the more she might just beg the hat to put her with her big brother."

"She is not fawning over me," Scorpius drawled out, rolling his eyes, "And in case you have forgotten, she has _two _older brothers." Albus shook his head and the three walked off to their respective tables as Headmistress McGonagall called them all to their seats.

The new first years were walked into the great hall, evidence of Peeve's newest prank on the Branded. Feathers were scattered on every student, but a few of them clung to the students that were targeted. Professor Sanders, the charms teacher, was bustling his way through the crowd, trying to spell the feathers off of the students. There must have been something special that the poltergeist had done because everything Professor Sanders was doing only seemed to irritate the obnoxious feathers more. They changed in color, ranging from neon pink to a dark green, they gathered in awkward places, or they moved away from the wand.

What surprised Scorpius the most was when Lily Potter walked through the door, covered head to toe in dancing bright purple feathers. The boy standing next to her had a few clinging to his arm and was staring at her in awe. Lily must have pushed the boy out of the way and taken the blow from Peeves.

There was a shout of excitement and Scorpius saw that one of the girls was now free of feathers and Professor Sanders was eagerly moving to the next person covered in colorful feathers. Within the next few minutes almost everyone had been cleared of the feathers. Professor Sanders had approached Lily but the girl just smiled and brushed him off. Eventually the Professor left her alone, leaving Lily as the only person left looking like a colorful chicken.

Scorpius looked over at Albus, smirking at the small grin that the raven haired boy was wearing. In the corner of his eye he saw somebody wave and looked up to see Kris at the Ravenclaw table across from him mouthing the words 'total Gryffindor'.

Professor Sanders managed to get everyone's attention as he sat the stool and hat down in the front of the room. The hat immediately began to sing of each houses traits, reminding everyone in the Hall that he sorted out what was dominate, but there was a little of everything in everyone.

The sorting began, the first kid being sorted into Hufflepuff. Cheers went up all over the Hall as everyone was sorted into their houses. The feathers had been cleaned up well enough that Scorpius couldn't tell if there were ever someone who was branded being sorted unless he knew the last name called was a Branded name.

"Lily Potter," called the Professor. Lily smiled and walked up to the stool, her feathers dancing with every move she made. Scorpius couldn't help but chuckle at her before he turned to grin at Albus. Lily took her seat and before the hat had fully rested on her head, it called out the house she belonged too.

There was a thunderous uproar from the Gryffindor table, a few people yelling out "we've got Potter!" Reality seemed to have fixed itself with the last of the Potter family being sorted into Gryffindor. Albus being in Slytherin was just a fluke. Scorpius glanced again over at Albus, surprised to see that the boy wasn't even clapping for his sister. Albus was just staring down at his empty plate.

Scorpius bumped the boy with his leg, giving him a questioning look when he glanced up. Albus just shrugged and attempted to smile at him before looking back down, fidgeting with his hands. Letting out a sigh, Scorpius turned his attention back to the sorting hat. He figured that Albus would get over the sorting of his sister when the two talked again later. He didn't see Lily turning out like James.

"Hugo Weasley," the professor called out, only a handful of students still waiting to be sorted before the welcoming feast could start. Hugo walked his way up to the stool slowly and Scorpius looked over towards the Gryffindor table. He saw Rose and James smiling up at the stool, so sure that they would be adding another family member to the Gryffindor house. Scorpius was sure that the house of the Lion would be getting another member as well.

At least he was until he saw that the hat was still sitting on the red curls of the boy, blocking all but his freckled covered nose from view. The hall was silent for a while longer before the seam finally ripped and shouted out "RAVENCLAW!"

Hugo had on a wide grin, his eyes bright, as the hat was pulled off of his curls and he rushed over towards the blue and bronze table, tripping over his feet slightly. Despite all of the cheering Scorpius heard the sigh come from the boy next to him.

Once more Scorpius nudged the boy for his attention. Albus looked up at him, and shrugged once more. Scorpius merely raised an eyebrow at the boy.

Albus sighed once more, "Later, alright," he said, before turning back to the last girl being sorted. She joined the Slytherin table and then the feast began, a chatter going up in the hall, drowning out the noise of the beginning storm.

.: .: .:

The feast was over and everyone was heading back to their dormitories. The Slytherin first years trailed behind the Slytherin prefects, eager to find out where they would be living for the next seven years. Scorpius hung back slightly from the first years, Albus trailing behind him. Both boys were ready to turn in for the night.

The second year boys dragged themselves into the dormitory. Sean Splint fell onto his bed immediately, pulling the curtains closed. Rick Henshaw followed in suite, and Daniel Goyle grabbed something from his trunk before making his way back towards the common room.

Albus was walking his way towards his bed when Scorpius grabbed his arm. He raised an eyebrow at the boy when he turned around. Albus let out a sigh and walked towards his bed again, Scorpius right behind him. The raven haired Slytherin took his time getting comfortable before Scorpius finally spoke up.

"You can't honestly tell me that you thought that Lily would be sorted into Slytherin did you?" he asked cautiously. He had only talked to the girl a couple of times and he knew that she was no Slytherin. Just as Kris had said, she was a total Gryffindor.

"It's not that really," Albus said, fidgeting with the end of his covers. "Everyone knew that she was going to be in Gryffindor. Never any doubt."

"Then why were you so upset when that happened?"

"It's just," Albus paused, his emerald eyes looking up at Scorpius, "It would have been nice not to be the only person who wasn't sorted into Gryffindor in my family. I was relieved when Hugo was put into Ravenclaw. I wasn't the only black sheep in the family." Albus drew his knees into his and rested his chin on them. He looked so vulnerable in that moment.

"Hey," Scorpius said, "You are far from the 'black sheep' of the family. Who cares if you were the one who was sorted into the house that wanted to achieve and will take any step to get there rather than the one that has their head raised so high that they don't see the world around them."

Albus gave a weak smile, "Thanks Scor," he turned to his side and pulled the covers over him. Scorpius sighed, knowing that his words were falling on deaf ears. After all, Albus had grown up all of his life being told that Gryffindor was the only acceptable house. He didn't know how it happened, but Scorpius felt that it was his job to make sure that the boy didn't think that anymore.

"Al," Scorpius said as he stood up. There was a grunt and Scorpius knew that the boy was listening to him, "The hat saw something in you that was different from the rest of your family, not something that was wrong. You were put here because this is where you belong, because this is where you would do great things. If you had been put in Gryffindor, you would have been a smaller version of your brother, unable to think for yourself." Scorpius closed the curtains to the bed and made his way to the bathroom.

When he was finished with his before bed ritual, he found Goyle leaning against his bed post. Scorpius nodded his head towards the door. If they were going to talk, he didn't want to be overheard if anyone else in the room happened to wake up.

"What's with the pariah?" Goyle asked once they were outside. Scorpius hated the name that they had given Albus, but whenever the supposed posing Slytherin was not around, he was referred to as such. Scorpius tried to never use the name, feeling as though it didn't fit the boy well enough.

"He's," Scorpius paused looking for the right word, "homesick. Upset about the fact that most of his family is in Gryffindor when he is not." Scorpius shrugged, trying to fight off the negative feeling he was getting with every word he uttered. He wasn't betraying Albus, Scorpius tried to tell himself, just looking at all the options

Goyle nodded. "There is no way that he truly belongs here."

"You still think that he was placed here to keep an eye on all of us. That Harry Potter would send his kid into the line of fire if anything went wrong just to make sure that we weren't stirring up any trouble."

Goyle nodded once more, "It might not have been Harry Potter that came up with this scheme. His family is too Gryffindor to come up with something like that. I was thinking more along the lines of someone higher up in the ministry. Someone who could pull the strings to make this happen."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, "The minister?"

"Possibly," Goyle shrugged, "It doesn't really matter though. Even if it wasn't a scheme in the beginning, the pariah is a valuable pawn for the Order. I wouldn't put it past them to exploit their advantage. Which is why we need to keep a close eye on him and not let anything slip."

"I know that Goyle. I have the kid wrapped around my finger. He just thinks that you three hold grudge against anything 'Potter'."

"And we'll keep it that way."

.: .: .:

Scorpius never found out what Albus thought about his last comments towards the boy. Albus woke up the next morning as if nothing happened and life continued on. Classes started up and everything went into normal routine. At least normal enough, Albus would disappear every now and then leaving Scorpius either with Krystal or the other Slytherins. He just figured Albus was going off to see his sister, though he never saw why he would be secretive about it.

It was about a month after the sorting ceremony when Albus finally announced to him and Kris that he was going to try out for the Slytherin quidditch team.

"I mean, I've been practicing since the summer started and I think I'm good enough to at least not make a laughing stock out of myself by trying out." Albus shrugged, attempting to hide his worry. Both Kris and Scorpius saw through the façade though.

"You'll do fine Al," Kris grinned at him, patting him on the shoulder. "You shouldn't be too worried."

"Six of their players are returning though," Albus stated, running a hand through his hair.

"And our team sucked last year, didn't win a thing. They'd be losers if they thought that keeping the team the same would help," Scorpius reassured Albus, not looking up from his book.

"Right, right," Albus sighed. They were silent for a few moments before Albus slammed his book shut, causing Kris and Scorpius to jump. "I can't take this anymore, I'm gonna go fly."

"Albus, it's raining," Kris cautioned when the boy stood up.

Albus merely shrugged and mumbled something about it raining during tryouts before walking off. Kris let out a sigh before returning to her work. The two left at the table lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"Scorpius," Krystal said after a while. She waited until Scorpius looked up at her before she continued, "I know that I've never talked to you about it before, but I was wondering…" she trailed off, her face scrunching as she tried to think of the proper way to phrase her question, "I was wondering what it was really like to have the Brand. I mean, I listen whenever someone talks to you about it, but all you ever really give is facts about it. I want to know your opinions."

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, "Careful, your Ravenclaw is showing Krystal Clare." He smirked at her scowl.

"I'm being serious, Scorpius." She crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair.

Scorpius sighed and closed his book, leaning back in his chair. If she wanted to know then she could. He wasn't going to flat out say anything though, she would have to work for her answers. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

Kris pondered this for a few moments, bringing her hand to her chin and tapping her nose with a long mocha finger. She must have settled on a question as she leaned forward suddenly, her piercing brown eyes focusing on Scorpius. "I want to know if you were given any trouble in your childhood for simply having the Brand. I mean I know you were, but what was the most.. troublesome experience I guess."

Scorpius thought for a moment, going back into the depths of his mind that he usually avoided. "The worst experience I have had with this was on my fifth birthday. I remember waking up earlier that morning, feeling like my arm had been cut off. My parents had rushed in and tried to calm me down. Anyway once the pain went away my mother brought out my new dress robes, there was a button on the chest that had 'birthday boy' written across it and a firework exploded behind the words. Anyway, she promised to take me to my favorite restaurant at the time.

"Mother, Father, and I went to Diagon Alley, there was snow everywhere, more so than usual for a January. Anyway, My mother had made the reservations and we went to Sweeny's place . It wasn't one of the fancy ones that they usually took me to, more of a middle class wizard family. The place practically screamed magic and that was one of the reasons why the five year old me was drawn to it.

"We walked into the door and there was a green flash," Scorpius paused at Kris' suddenly confused face, "Um, the doors in any wizarding shop in England are charmed to have a green flash when a branded member walks through them," he explained before continuing on, "Anyway, we walk through the doors and there is a flash of green. It was perfectly normal to me so I didn't think much of it until the Mr. Sweeny was standing in front of my family and explaining that the place was booked for the night and we wouldn't be able to dine there. I remember thinking that it was an odd thing to say when there were only two tables occupied."

He shrugged and went back to his work, preferring to write his essay for history of magic over talk about his own history.

"Scorpius," Kris whispered, resting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she just stared at him. She was trying to find words to say, but couldn't think of anything.

"It's fine," he mumbled, shaking her off, "Can't really control the past." Kris nodded and went back to her work. They lapsed into silence for the rest of their study session, only she sound of quill scratching against parchment interrupting them.

.: .: .:

Albus was bouncing in his seat. The tryouts were that morning after breakfast and the raven haired Slytherin has problems keeping his nerves in.

"Calm down, Al," Scorpius mumbled around his eggs. He didn't see why Albus was so anxious about it, "You'll do fine, even better if you would eat something."

"No," the boy shook his head and pushed away the plate of toast, "It will just come up later." He fidgeted with the end of his robes before he suddenly stood up. "I'm gonna go down to the pitch early, maybe that will help."

"You do that," Scorpius said as the boy walked away. Shaking his head at Albus' antics, Scorpius returned to eating his breakfast. He was only halfway through his toast when the vacated spot next to him was filled by Goyle. There was a stern look in his eyes as he pulled out the Prophet from his pocket and placed it in front of him. The headline caught Scorpius' attention at once and he grabbed the paper, pulling it closer to his face to read it better.

_**Separate Schools for the Branded?**_

_It has been a good twenty years since the war, and time has moved on nicely since then. With the application of the Brand, walking the streets have been easy. These days people don't fear for themselves any more but for their children. Everyone has gotten older and everyone has started their families. _

_It is a growing concern of many in the education department at the Ministry of the increasing amount of branded children entering schools. Not only the increased ratio of Branded children to Unbranded children, but also the increased incident reports involving children with the Brand. Currently the Ministry's Board of Education and Board of Magical Regulation are working together to decide what would be best way to handle this problematic situation. _

_"I don't want my child in danger," Stated Megan Jones, "It would be best if we just kept the two groups separate, that way my children wouldn't get into any trouble." Mrs. Jones currently has two children attending Hogwarts and claims that her children are constantly harassed by the Branded in their class. _

Scorpius paused in his reading to glance at Caleb Jones. He remembered the fifth year Hufflepuff had gotten into a scuffle with two Branded members of the Slytherin house. He had ended up in the hospital wing with a broken nose last year because of it. It depended on who was telling the story. but Scorpius fully believed that Jones was at fault for what happened. He looked back down towards the paper and continued reading.

_The Ministry has taken this idea and many others into consideration, but so far there has been no drawn out plan as to how we will solve this problem. As soon as a word come out, I will be the first to report it. _

_Cassandra Patton._

Goyle took the paper back for Scorpius and raised an eyebrow.

"Even if this rubbish is true, McGonagall would never let this happen." Scorpius said, hiding his anger at the piece in the well developed Malfoy mask.

"She might, but look at her, I can't imagine that she will last much longer. This is wearing her down too much and it won't surprise me if we have a new headmaster before we graduate. One that will play nicely into the Ministry's hands."

Scorpius looked up at their Headmistress. Her eyes were scanning the room and the wrinkles pulled her face down. She was a woman who went through two wars and knew what it was like to lose something. Scorpius knew that she was strong on the inside, but she looked too frail to handle much more. Perhaps they would be experiencing change soon.

_AN: So it took me longer to write this than I thought. School keeps getting in the way. _

_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far, y'all make me smile._


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